To Cure a Mad Phantom
by wtdog1011
Summary: About a week after the Erik released Christine and Raoul, and while Christine and Raoul are happy together, Christine can't help but feel pity for her old tutor. So what hapens when you put a mad phantom, a naive girl, and a protective fiance all in the s
1. Chapter 1

As much as I love the version of the completely reformed, nice, loving, romantic, perfect boyfriend/husbandErik, I really don't think its very realistic! I am a EC fan, butI think its more real if Christine and Raoul end up together, so, here goes

To Cure a Mad Phantom

Chapter 1

Sunlight flooded into the sitting room as Raoul, Le Vicomte de Chagny, pulled open the thick, green curtains that were giving the room an air of mustiness. A sunbeam fell across something he hadn't seen before. Christine was standing in the doorway watching him with a look of mock confusion.

"Yes, Christine?" Raoul said with a smile playing over his lips.

"I really don't like those curtains!" Christine managed to giggle out.

"What have I done to amuse you so?" Raoul laughed back.

"I never would have expected a _vicomte _to be opening his own curtains!" she stated, knowing that Raoul did not act at all like his older brother, the count, had wanted and expected a viscount to act.

"My dear" Raoul exhaled, "You know very well that I believe myself capable of doing the most 'menial' tasks."

"Oh yes, I know, but can't I tease you just a little bit?" Christine responded with a huge grin on her face.

"Oh, I suppose, but I imagine it wasn't your dislike of my curtains that brought you in to see me. Do you wish to talk?"

"Yes…" Christine replied almost… reluctantly, Raoul thought.

"Well, my dear, sit down, sit down. What is it you wish to talk about?"

"Raoul… it's… it's only been a week and…"

"Christine," Raoul interrupted, "Could we please not get onto this subject again? You know I love you…"

"And I love you Raoul! I would never leave you for _him, _especially after what he did to me, to us. But you can still be friends with someone without loving them, in that way at least. I still care for him."

"I know Christine, I know, he was your tutor for ten years, he protected you, taught you. I understand how very close you were to him… but the man is mad. I can't put you in that danger again, Christine, especially since we are to be married in a matter of months. I care for you more now than I ever have!"

"But that's my point, Raoul! He has problems, he needs us. He has no other friends. The one man he thought to be the closest thing to a friend betrayed him by showing you where to find me!"

"He never considered me a friend Christine, and what makes you think he still thinks of you as a friend?"

"Raoul, you never fully understood his love for me. It is a type of love you can't just erase by one bad experience. And didn't you yourself reassure me that he was nothing but a man? It's only been a week Raoul, he might still be there. He wouldn't harm me, I know."

"I would feel much better if you took someone with you." Raoul said softly after a minute of silence.

"Raoul, really?" Christine questioned, but without the tone of someone who was happy to have won an argument. Truth be told, Erik still scared her to death, and she didn'twant to go see him without Raoul to protect her, but it had to be done. "You know it can't be you, right? As you said, he has never been fond of you, and you were the one who took me away, remember?"

"Yes, I know." Raoul sighed. "Take one of the servants, no, two actually. Inform them that should anything happen to you, one of them is to stay with you and the other is to go get help, and then find me. I won't let anything happen to you again Christine."

"Yes, Raoul, I know. I think it is a wonderful idea. Whenshould I leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, I think would be best. It will give you some time to rest once you get there. I don't want you to stay at the opera house though. He has all access to you there, and I couldn't sleep at night knowing he could be right there watching you like he used to do."

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Christine said showing a slight smile. Raoul smiled back.

"I haven't been fair to you, treating this trip like it is a huge deal. I know nothing will happen to you Christine, I just get so worried."

"You have your right to be worried Raoul."

"Well," he sighed again, "I suppose I need to get back to work. And you should go pack. Only pack your… modest clothes." Raoul said with a chuckle. "I don't want him to fall madly in love with you all over again." Christine laughed.

"Of course dear!" Raoul turned back to his desk as Christine walked towards the door. "Wait, Raoul?"

"Yes dearest?"

"Could I… bring him here?" Christine flinched, ready for a "no!" to come flying back at her.

"Well, there really isn't anywhere else, as we are his only 'friends.'" Raoul said with a fake smile on his face, trying to be strong for Christine and cover up his great dislike of the idea.

"Oh thank you!" Christine rushed over to her fiancé and gave him a huge hug before rushing out the door to pack. Raoul smiled to himself, he loved her so much. As Christine walked back to her room, the only thought running through her mind was how difficult this task was going to be. She had no idea how she was going to convince Erik to come and stay with them, and she couldn't stand to lie to him. He would know anyways. He knew everything about her. She also understood how hard this was going to be for her, even if she convincedErik to go with her. She had come so close to loving that man, he had the power to bewitch her. She just hoped it wouldn't ruin her relationship with Raoul… but they were in love, right?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Christine!" Raoul yelled from the doorstep of his house.

"Raoul?" Christine turned around from the step of the carriage she was about to climb into and gave her fiancé a look of confusion. "What is it?" Raoul ran towards her, picked her up, twirled her around, and then leaned in for one of the most passionate kisses he had ever given her. "What was that for?" Christine asked with a smile on her face.

"I love you Christine. Take care, please, be careful."

"Raoul," Christine replied with a wicked grin, "You have been telling me that you love me almost every five minutes ever since our discussion yesterday afternoon! I'm afraid that I'm starting to tire of hearing it!" Christine laughed, but then leaned in to whisper to Raoul so that none of the watching servants could hear what she said. "I love you too Raoul and I will never tire of hearing you proclaim your feelings for me." Raoul gave her one more lingering kiss, and then placed her into the carriage that would take her to Paris. He watched as the carriage pulled out onto the dirt road, but couldn't help feeling like he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. Raoul stood in the driveway staring at the back of the carriage for five more minutes before slowly turning around to go back into his house.

As soon as he entered the house, Raoul could sense the stares of all the servants. They respected him; he never gave them too much work to do, and treated them as he would his friends, but they didn't know the full story. All the servants knew was that one night, their master returned late from a trip to the opera in dirty, damp clothes, with a tear stained face, and an equally messy young lady asleep in his arms. They knew that something dramatic and important happened that night, but they never found out just what.

Raoul was on the verge of tears, he couldn't believe he was giving her up again. He did tell Christine that Erik was nothing but a man, but the phantom of the opera was one of the most inhuman men that had ever existed. He just needed to trust Christine, and he hoped with all his heart that the kiss they shared by the coach would not be their last.

Christine was equally emotional. Erik, the opera ghost, was powerful, and he wanted _her_. She worried that he had already left his home by the lake. She had no idea what he did after she left with Raoul, but he had to have left, at least temporarily; an angry mob was coming for him after all! Christine didn't know what she was going to do when she got to Paris. She couldn't just sit there, doing nothing. Her nerves were too strong. "I don't even know if I will be able to find him." she revisited her previous thoughts. Luckily for Christine, the ride was not long; it was really only a day trip from Raoul's mansion, but she would need more than a day for this trip.

The carriage pulled up to an expensive hotel in Paris, not incredibly far from the Paris Opera house, Christine noticed. She took the lift up to her room, it was beautiful. The room was ornately decorated with mini sculptures covering almost every surface. The room had a balcony that looked out upon the Opera House, and a huge bathroom, with fixtures covered in gold. Christine sat down on the bed, soaking in the beauty around her, and whispered, "Raoul, I wish you were here." Before she knew it, tears were pouring down her face, but she couldn't know that at the exact same moment, Raoul, who had barricaded himself in his study, was also weeping.

The morning sun slowly crept over Christine, gradually warming her body. She almost screamed when she woke up, forgetting easily that she was in a hotel, and expected to wake up in her room in Raoul's house. A new wave of nerves swept over her as she remembered last nights events and what she had to do today.

Christine, who had nothing better to do, decided to track down Erik the only way she knew how without actually entering the opera house. Nadir. The man who betrayed Erik was sure to be one of the only ones who knew of his whereabouts. The Persian, who was well known in Paris, lived in a house a couple of miles from the Christine's hotel and the opera house. He definitely wasn't expecting Christine.

"Mademoiselle Daee!" Nadir cried when he saw the identity of his announced visitor. "What are you doing here? I would have thought that surely you would be as far away from the opera house as possible!"

"Actually, I am staying a few hours away with the vicomte. I have returned to Paris on a very important… mission; I guess you could call it that."

"Mademoiselle… I don't want to invade your private life, but I feel I have a responsibility to protect people from… _him_. Please tell me that the goal of your visit is not to visit Erik?"

"It is… but he won't harm me."

"You can never be too sure of that mademoiselle."

"Could I just ask, do you know where he is? Is he still at his house?" Christine shook off the Persian's warning, not wanting to believe what he said was true.

"Mademoiselle, I am afraid that he has died. He posted an ad in the paper himself before he passed. I am to go in a few days to bury him… but he might have left something for you. A note, maybe… He didn't mention anything though."

"Thank you, Monsieur for all of your help .I really need to be going, however. I promised the Vicomte that I would rest before I gave Erik a visit, not that he's here to check up on me."

"You mean you came alone? That's lunacy!"

"I think that Erik would be more welcoming to me by myself than if I were accompanied by the Vicomte."

"Yes, I suppose so, but do you wish for me to accompany you?" Nadir inquired.

"No. I think that right now, I am one of the only people on Erik's best side, which isn't saying much, because I imagine he hates me for what I did for him… but I think he still loves me… I hope at least! That might be the only way I can get through to him."

"I understand. I am happy to be able to have helped. I wish you luck, although; if you find anything down in his house, treat it with caution!"

Christine dressed in a plain dress, no extra decorations. She didn't know what kind of journey she was going to have to take to get to Erik's lair and didn't want to ruin one of her better dresses. She barely ate anything for breakfast and slowly made her way down to the lobby, where she instructed her driver to take her to the Opera Populaire, Rue Scribe entrance. The trip to the Opera house was much shorter than Christine had hoped. She stepped out into the sunshine with her two maids, both very curious about the task ahead of them. "We are going to pay a visit to an old… friend." Christine didn't feel like retelling the whole story two the two women, but she felt very odd calling Erik a friend. She had never thought of him that way. "I had better be getting used to the idea." Christine mumbled to herself.

"What did you say Mademoiselle?" One of the women asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all." Christine responded very absentmindedly. She could only focus on one thing. The Opera Ghost. "Listen carefully." Christine told the two young ladies. "The vicomte has asked me to instruct you that should anything happen to me, one of you will stay with me, while the other will go get help. Is that okay?" The two servants nodded, not daring to question their master's orders.

They three traveled down a dark, damp tunnel, in almost complete silence, save for their echoing footsteps and the sound of water dripping, magnified by the stone walls. Soon, they were able to hear the soft lapping of water on a shore. When they made the final turn out of the tunnel, a huge underground lake was made visible, the two servants gasped, never knowing such a thing existed.

"We had better wait here." Christine explained solemnly. "He will be able to detect us if he is still here, I imagine."

"Mademoiselle, if I may ask…" One of the women whispered, "Who is this 'he' you talk about?" Christine took a deep breath, thinking about her answer and choosing her words carefully. She was about to respond, when a _cold_ voice stopped her.

"Get off of my property, right now."


	3. Chapter 3

"Erik..." Christine muttered. Was there a hint of warning in her voice? Erik couldn't decide. She spoke too softly.

"Christine, you know very well that I do not joke. I mean it. Get off my land right now."

"But Erik, I'm here as a friend." Christine's voice grew softer and softer as she went on. Who knew how Erik would react to a statement such as that. But Christine was ready. She had known Erik long enough to know what would set him off.

"What did you call yourself?" In contrast to Christine's voice earlier, Erik's grew louder, and his tone more violent as he continued. "You are no friend of mine, _Mademoiselle_. In no way at all!"

"Erik, don't get upset!" Christine didn't know what else to say.

"Don't get upset!" Erik's voice boomed and echoed around the walls of his lair. "You left me after I gave you everything I had! I taught you to sing! I risked my secrecy by training you. An angry mob was after me! I told you I loved you." Erik had stalled before saying the last sentence, where his voice had gone soft. He had become a master at glossing over his feelings and ignoring them, but seeing Christine brought up the bad memories… and it had only been a week…

"Erik…" Christine waited until Erik looked up at her, and suppressed a shudder as she made eye contact with him. "I'm sorry."

Erik, who had fully recovered, replied quite bitterly, "Well, it's a little late for that now, isn't it?" But Erik continued looking straight into her eyes, and to his joy, although he would never let Christine see, he could only find sincerity. Erik took a deep breath and _apologized._ "I'm sorry, Christine." He had to calm himself down again just to say, "Now what is it that you wish to speak with me about? Come, we can discuss it over tea. Christine looked reluctant at the idea. All of a sudden, the warnings Raoul had given her about going to Erik's house were the only things running through her mind.

Erik, who sensed her reluctance, said, "Christine, I don't know what you want from me, but you aren't going to get very far if you refuse to talk with me about it in the comfort of my own home." Christine looked back at her two attendants, and sighed.

"Okay, I'll go. But promise me you won't do anything."

"Oh, I wouldn't do anything to a future countess." Erik smirked as he said this. Christine on the other hand grimaced. She never had enjoyed Erik's sense of humor. Well, she thought to herself, I'm going to have to get used to it. But still, it seemed that Erik was very upset, but who could blame him. This would be hard. Very Hard.

Erik motioned the party to follow him, and they took quiet, tension-filled journey to Erik's home across the lake. When they reached there, Erik cordially showed the three women where to sit. They all took a long couch on one side of the sitting room, while Erik took the arm chair across from them, after he served tea, which everyone declined anyways.

"Okay. Explain to me your purpose for coming back here."

"Erik, Raoul and I are concerned for you." Erik snorted.

"How so? You didn't seem all that concerned for my well being when you two ran off together."

"Well first of all, you told Nadir that you were dead. I don't know what you were going to do Erik, but I hope we got her in time."

"Christine. I could never kill myself. What would the world do without me?" Erik flashed another smirk. Christine had never seen him so light hearted.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that? You have always had a temper. Not to mention… extreme self esteem issues!" Christine hated saying this, and Erik hated hearing it, but they both knew it was true. The maids just kept glancing back and forth between Christine and this mysterious man, observing the whole scene as if they were in a dream.

Erik sucked in a huge breath of air and then let it out very slowly. "And what is it you are suggesting?"

"Well, Erik, I think you should come live with me and Raoul." Christine was also ready for this response, but it never came. When she opened her eyes again and looked up, she noticed that Erik was deep in thought. Suddenly Erik snapped out of the bout of intense thinking, and noticed the very confused look on Christine's face.

"I'm sorry, Christine, I was just thinking…"

"You mean, you do not object to the idea?" Yet again, she expected a "OF COURSE I OBJECT!" to come whirling back at her, but it didn't.

"Well, I think it is a possibility… May I have the night to think about it? You can come back in the morning, if you wish; I can give you my answer then. Now, I have some work to do, if you wouldn't mind, could you leave me alone to take care of it?"

The look on Christine's face never left her, even until she got back to her hotel room. "Of course, how does eight o'clock tomorrow morning sound? I can come back then."

"Yes, yes, that would be fine. If you'll excuse me from showing you out, I have quite a bit left to do, I wasn't expecting this meeting." Erik said all of this quickly, it seem as if he was rushing them out.

"Yes, that will be fine, I remember how to use the boat. I'll see you tomorrow, Erik. Thank you." But as Christine peered at his face, she realized that he was deep in thought again, and hadn't heard a word she said. As she and her servants stepped into the boat, Christine couldn't mistake the sound of an organ being pounded on. They got back to their hotel, and Christine immediately retired to her room. She had to think about the preceding events.

Just a few blocks away, five levels beneath the street, Erik was also thinking as he played out a symphony that was both long and sweet. Erik had too many thoughts running through his mind all at once. That was in part why he was playing, music always helped him calm down and think. Now, he was in the process of sorting out the positive and negative aspects of agreeing to Christine's proposal. Erik, being the very pessimistic man that he was, started out with the negative side.

_If I went with Christine, I would have to be around her and her _boyfriendErik grimaced at this. He hated that fop with a burning passion. _I would be in the light, I would have to be around people! I wouldn't have my privacy, with all of the servants and what not. I might even have to attend social functions. I would have to act proper all the time… and I definitely do not want to be around the Comte._ Erik kept revisiting his hatred for Raoul. After some more brooding, he decided to move onto the positives. _I would get to be around Christine, although that might be more of a problem._ Erik could not for the life of him think of anymore good things about this arrangement. He kept returning to his thoughts about Raoul, and then it hit him. _I wonder… I could get my revenge on Raoul. He took my Christine away from me, I could finally finish the task I set out to do last week, before Christine kissed me. But now, now I have no problem going after the fop. I could observe him, night and day, and maybe I could get Christine to finally love me, she could come back to me!_ In Erik's mind, this was the perfect plan. Kill the Count before he could marry Christine, and she would be all his. With Raoul out of the picture, Christine would jump at the thought of marrying him! _Well, its settled then. I'll go with Christine to live with her. I'll tell her first thing in the morning. Now, I have to pack!_

Christine bounced along with the carriage as it worked its way back to the Ruse Scribe entrance to the Opera. She walked down the tunnel, quicker than yesterday. She was very eager to hear Erik's answer, although in her mind, he was surely going to say no. But Christine was willing to work on him. She wouldn't give up so easily.

Erik was waiting on the shore, very eager to deliver his answer to Christine. Christine greeted him and he responded with a light kiss on her hand. She failed to hide this shudder as his lips brushed across her skin. Christine sighed.

"Erik, what do you think?"

"Well, Christine, I have decided to go with you, and stay at your home." Christine could help but smile.

"Wonderful!" She said, but then, she started thinking again. "Erik, you understand that you are going to be living in the same house with Raoul. I want you to be nice to him. I'll speak with him about it too, so you won't be provoked, well, as long as you don't provoke him."

"Christine, I'm not a child. I can restrain myself."

"Good, you'll no doubt need it." Erik smiled. He could still lie to her, good to know.

"Well, I've already packed, so we can leave immediately." Erik waved his hand towards a small pile of bags that Christine hadn't noticed before.

"I just need to pick up my suitcase at the hotel, and then I will be ready."

The party made their way to the carriage, then to the hotel. The bellhop brought down Christine's luggage, and they were ready to go. The journey, which was already fairly short, seemed to pass before Christine's eyes. Before she knew it, they were pulling up to the front of the Chagny mansion. The driver pulled all of the luggage from the carriage and carried it to the front door. Christine, Erik, and the two maids walked slowly up to the front door. Christine looked at Erik, and smiled at him before she rang the bell. Raoul, who was inside, somehow knew that Christine was at the door, rushed forward and insisted on opening the door for his fiancé. From the inside of the house, Raoul opened the door, and Erik and Christine watched the door open slowly. All three took deep breaths as the door opened.

I just wanted to say thank you to rebecca, you know who you are, for giving me hte idea for this chapter, what would i do without you? haha thankyouthankyou 3


	4. Chapter 4

Erik sat down on the bed, creating a pfff sound. Sighing, he glanced around the ornately decorated guest room that belonged to the Count de Chagny. It was so… _light and pretty_, which in the former phantom of the opera's mind, was utterly disgusting. Ignoring the servants' departure from his room, Erik stood up and started pacing, when he was interrupted by muffled voices. Erik, being the sneak he is, immediately crouched down on the floor, a cup at his ear to magnify the sound. Right away he could recognize a male and female voice, talking in a slightly raised volume. Soon after, Erik realized that he was currently eavesdropping on a conversation between Christine and her beloved fiancé. Erik smirked, he loved this. So, for the next couple minutes, Erik listened into a conversation held between his host and hostess… about him.

"Raoul…" _that was Christine's voice. _"He's not _that _bad."

"Christine! He _kidnapped _you! Then he threatened to keep you forever in the dark and kill me! How can you say that he's not that bad?"

"You just don't know him like I do. Plus, you promised to take him in, you can't just put him out in the cold."

"That's not what I was suggesting. I just think that maybe, we shouldn't let him stay here forever. He's extremely unpredictable, and I don't like that fact that any look from you can turn him into a madman! It's very dangerous having him here."

"Just think, my dear," This form of endearment made Erik gag. "He is in our house now. He doesn't have all of the tricks he did at the Opera."

"Yes, true true. I guess you are right. Maybe it won't be so bad… But do I have to talk to him?"

Christine's tone of voice turned into that of a mother's. "Why yes of course you must talk to him…" Erik heard no more. He had gotten off his hands and knees and resumed pacing. If his plan to kill his enemy were to succeed, he needed a plan. And what Christine had mentioned was entirely true. He wasn't back at the opera, and while he could install any undetectable trap at night, it could take a while, being in a large house with many many people. Erik wasn't used to that. He pfffed back down on the bed and closed his eyes, he needed music… Mid-thought, Erik's ear picked up a soft knocking on his door. Sighing again, he strode over to the door and flung it open to reveal Christine standing there with a fake smile on her face.

"I thought I should come get you myself… Dinner is ready in the dinning room. Do you want me to show you the way?" Her eyes became hopeful at the possibility of a positive answer, but she only got a grumpy, "No. I will come down in a few minutes." and a slammed door.

"Damn it." Erik cursed. He wasn't ready for a social interaction with Christine or Raoul, but he couldn't say no. He needed to get an idea of the house layout, plus, his stomach had been begging for food for the past half hour of pondering. He slowly put on his dress clothes and descended down the grand stairs into the foyer, where he turned and saw the long dinning table. As he got closer, he could recognize the white, bright, table cloth and the sparkling tableware. "Ugh." That was the icing on the worst cake Erik had ever had. He missed his home in the dark.

Erik walked straight into the dinning room. Raoul and Christine, who had been patiently waiting for him to arrive, turned their gazes upon him. He shook Raoul's hand, and bowed to Christine right before he took her hand and placed a lingering kiss upon it. While Christine was making Raoul behave, there was no reason Erik couldn't tease him a little bit, right? Erik smirked as he turned his back to Raoul's glare and sat down.

Tentatively, Christine cleared her throat. "We are having chicken as our main dish… is that fine with you Erik?" She seemed to shrink back as she finished this statement. While Erik loved to torment and frighten people, he turned into a puddle of Erik goo at the sight of his love's uneasiness. Once Raoul was dead and gone, he could ease up on the sarcasm and the meanness, well, he would do anything for Christine. A look of pain came across Erik's face as he said, "I am sorry. I shouldn't treat my hosts as I have. I beg your forgiveness." Christine and Raoul's eyes connected, and a look of awe came upon both of them as they turned to look at Erik. Looking at Raoul, Christine nudged her head in Erik's direction. Raoul gave her a pleading look, but gave in very easily. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem." Erik looked up from his meal in Raoul's direction. "I, we, accept your apology." With that Raoul concentrated on his dinner once again. Christine gave a little cough, which caused Raoul to look up at his fiancé. Christine gave him that you-had-better-keep-going look and Raoul continued talking to Erik.

"Of course, I should apologize to you also." Erik almost spit out his food. "I should have treated you, my guest, better than I did. I… don't want the past to… hinder our relationship." He said it very cautiously. Erik, who had managed to close his mouth by the end of Raoul's response and resumed chewing, received a look from Christine, and continued to make small talk with Raoul, who, on Christine's prompting, responded with equally cordial response. This went on for an hour and a half, all through dinner, with topics such as the weather, the house, and the state of the country being discussed quite thoroughly. Dessert came, to both Erik and Raoul's delight, quite quickly and, after wolfing down the entire course within five minutes both excused themselves from the table with a bow to Christine and rushed off to their respective rooms.

Raoul, who had pretty much run off to his study plopped down in his favorite arm chair and exhaled. He stood up when an extremely annoyed Christine stalked in, an excuse already on his lips.

"Christine! I'm sorry, but I don't think I could have stood his company for another minute!"

"You know the delicate place his mind is already in, you could've invited him to have a drink with you in the sitting room or something! I would have left you two alone, you know that."

"Christine," Raoul breathed out. "Do you really think it is a good idea to leave the two of us in a room alone? I know where all the weapons in this house are, and I am not afraid to use them on the likes of that pond scum!"

"He is not pond scum, and the only way you two will ever be friends is if you spend some time together, without the thing you two fight over, me!"

"Christine," Raoul sighed, as he sat down and took her hands in his. "I don't think I can ever be friends with that man, not after what he did. In my eyes, he is despicable."

"You promised to try, at least." Christine reminded him.

"I know, I know!" Raoul said exasperatedly. But if it is going to happen at all, it's not going to happen over night. Also, I was being nice to him. I relieved him of company he really didn't want." Raoul chuckled as he said this last sentence.

"I suppose." Christine admitted, but for now, could please just humor me?" Raoul pecked her on the check.

"Of course my dear. Now, I have some work to do, are you going to be okay by yourself?"

"Raoul, I'm not a little girl any more, I'll be fine!" she laughed.

"Of course, well, I'll see you later tonight." With that, Christine left Raoul to his own devices and decided to check up on Erik.

Meanwhile, Erik was listening into the conversation in the study which was conveniently directly under Erik's room. He huffed at what he heard.

"Me, despicable? I think not!" he breathed to himself. At least Christine was supporting him in a way… but he was not in a fragile state of mind as she seemed to think! And, in addition, he really didn't want to spend more time with that horrible, feminine-like man! They would never be friends, because if they were, then how could Erik kill him? Never having had a real friend, Erik didn't know. He stood up and started pacing as he had before the meal, thinking about how he would create the untimely demise of the fop. Frustrated, Erik slammed his fist down on the desk. He couldn't think straight in this house, without any music. Besides, what is he supposed to do in-between eating, sleeping, and planning murder? Suddenly, a knock at his door pulled Erik out of his thoughts. Once again, he saw Christine standing there, looking curious.

"May I come in?" she asked hopefully. Erik glanced into the room behind him and sighed. He couldn't refuse her.

"Of course you can, please excuse the darkness. I can open the curtains if you would like. He grimaced at the idea of actually performing the action he just mentioned. The last thing he needed right now was _light_. Christine saw his expression and understood immediately.

"No, really, it's fine the way it is." It was crazy, she thought, about how nice he was being. This was not at all how she expected him to act, especially after she left him or another man. "Erik, can I ask you a question?" Erik looked at her and nodded his head. "Will you promise not to get angry with me?" Erik noticed the warning signs. What kind of question was she planning on asking, and was he prepared? His curiosity got him in the end and he once again nodded. "Thank you. I noticed a… a change in your behavior." Oh God, here it comes, Erik thought to himself. "I was just wondering, why you are being so nice and polite to Raoul and I?"

"Do you not think me capable of having good manners?" He delivered this response a little roughly, and Christine, instead of shrinking back this time, seemed to push herself forward. She raised her voice and responded,

"You promised to stay calm, Erik." Erik sighed. He hated what she could do to him.

"You are right. I apologize."

"You see! That is exactly what I mean! You never treated me that way when we were at the opera. So why are you now?"

"Christine… I love you." He moved over to her and took her hand, which she promptly pulled away. "I would do anything for you, you mean too much to me and this could be my last chance to get you back." He looked directly in her eyes. Christine began to grow nervous for a good reason, because Erik leaned in to try to kiss her.

"I'm sorry," she retreated to the other side of the room. It was a mistake to come up here to see you. Please remember that I have a fiancé! I love you…" Erik looked up at her face, "but only as a friend." The words stung him. It was a mistake to show his feelings for her again, but, maybe while she was here, he could make her listen.

"Christine, please! Tell me why you do not love me like you love your count. I can change!" He was pleading with her! The Phantom of the Opera was pleading, again! For the umpteenth time in the last two weeks! What was wrong with him?" Christine turned and walked out of the door. Erik leaned his head out of the door.

"Christine?" He asked. Without even turning around and in an annoyed tone, Christine responded,

"What now, Erik?"

"Do you have a music room?"

Sorry it's a kinda crappy end to this chapter… I will try to update soon, the joy of spring break!


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